Greedy Trial Lawyer
The Rule Of 9 Is The Only Sensible Way To Go
Category: Seeing Clearly Now
The punitive damage tobacco case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court this week has brought us a mystical connection between acceptable punitive damages and the number 9. An L.A. Times editorial is wild-eyed over the size of the $79.5 Million punitive award and appears to support a cap on punitives of 9 times compensatory damages. To the Times the cap would be a good general rule that makes sense.
While we are at it, I believe the salaries and bonuses of corporate officers should be capped at 9 times the company's average employee. And, the charges for newspaper ads should be capped at 9 times the cost of the Sunday edition. Now, we are making some sense. The world is so much more sensible if we use the "rule of 9."
WHEN LAWYERS say, "hard cases make bad law," what they often mean is that a sympathetic plaintiff or an unattractive defendant can induce judges to depart from a general rule that makes sense. The U.S. Supreme Court should resist that temptation in ruling on an Oregon jury's decision to order a tobacco company to pay $79.5 million in punitive damages in a case involving a lifelong smoker who died of lung cancer.In a landmark 2003 ruling, the justices suggested that punitive damages should be capped at nine times the amount of actual damages.
Has anyone else noticed the fact that there happen to be 9 Supreme Court Justices?
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